Composer David Felder joined UB in 1985, drawn by its history as a hub of contemporary music.

Since then, Felder, a SUNY Distinguished Professor and internationally recognized composer, has partnered with university colleagues and the local community to advance that rich tradition.

For several years in the 1990s, he served as Composer-in-Residence with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

He is the long-time artistic director for June in Buffalo, an internationally renowned annual festival and conference for emerging composers of new music that features lectures, workshops and rehearsals, along with public concerts.

Other schools have courted him, but he is committed to Buffalo and UB.

“I’ve been really lucky,” says Felder, UB’s Birge-Cary Chair in Music Composition. “I’ve been able to build a PhD program in music composition, which is one of the top five programs in the country. I’m able to recruit really great students to come here to work with me.

“I feel extraordinarily grateful to the institution and to the Buffalo community for the support that they’ve shown me,” he says. “They've placed trust and resources behind what I’ve tried to do, so I feel like one thing I can try to do is to give back.”

A vibrant work environment, paired with Buffalo’s high quality of life, make UB a great place, adds Felder, recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Music Award, which honors an individual’s career.

“The energy on campus is extraordinary,” Felder says. “I know we’re at a difficult moment in terms of funding, but the attitude our leaders have projected is an attitude of trying to find ways to help us do better what we already do well. It really is a terrific place to work.”